Hope Haven
by Zeff N Company
Summary: A recent theft incident leads Cerebro to detect mutants in downtown Bayville. Can the X team recruit them in time, or will Duncan and his gang beat them to it?
1. I

_**Hope Haven**_

**Chapter I: Part I**

It was lunch break for most of the students studying in Bayville.

After collecting her lunch, a girl with streaks of dyed brown in her black hair carried her dish over to one of the tables, joining her three male friends.

"Hey, Naomi." The biggest one greeted her with his mouth full.

The girl grimaced. "Curtains down, Michael! I don't want to see that!"

"Sorry." He swallowed and let out a burp. He grinned at his companions. "Say, did I ever tell any of you about this medieval French king who used to behead any subject caught chewing with his mouth open?"

The younger boys, both of the same age but different height, took a sidelong glance at each other before rolling their eyes in unison. One had his long hair secured in a ponytail, while the other's was short and stood up like brush bristles.

"**Not** while we're eating!" Naomi hit Michael with a paper straw before she returned to her milk. "Garrick. Garrett. You said your friend was coming over today after school. What's his name again?"

The slightly taller one - Garrick - nodded. "Jamie Madrox. We're gonna be working on the group assignment Mrs. Pelzer wants by next week."

"We'll be using the kitchen." Garrett informed.

"Right." Naomi suddenly looked outside the cafeteria and toward the lockers. She quickly stood up and left the table. "Excuse me a minute."

The three boys watched her hurry off in the direction of a group of cheerleaders.

"Hey! Wait up!"

"Oh great." A girl with long blond hair gestured at Naomi, who was running to catch up with them.

"She's following us again. Wonderful." Groaned another with hazel-colored hair.

They waited for the younger girl to catch up. "Hi Sandra! Hi Maryann!"

"What do you want, kid?" One of the cheerleaders glared at her.

"I just wanted to hang around?" Naomi looked away nervously. "Sandra and Maryann said it was okay if our break was at the same time."

All the cheerleaders promptly stared at the mentioned pair.

"Don't worry. We'll handle this." The two girls left the group with Naomi in tow.

"Look, kid. Seriously, we don't mind your popping around." Sandra lied.

"But the girls aren't as keen on mutants." Maryann added. "They're gonna need a little......convincing."

"So.....what's that mean?"

Sandra winked at Maryann before turning back to Naomi. "Meet us outside school at the store. This is what you have to do........"

Bayville. Downtown. Grocery store.

Louis drummed his gloved fingers impatiently on the counter. The freckled teenager on duty struggled with the cash register and tried to strike up casual conversation to keep his panic under control.

_Must be a part-timer with short memory-span._

"So....um.......you going out for.....err.....for a road trip or something?"

Louis nodded, knowing that the teen was referring to his attire. He was wearing a leather jacket over his long sleeved shirt, cargo pants and a black cap that hid his ears. "You could say that. Sorry to rush you, but I'm in a hurry." _You see, with every minute wasted as we stand here, my fur is practically melting from the trapped body heat......._

"Darn, what's **with** this stupid thing?!" The teenager went back to randomly tapping keys in a frustrated manner. Finally, to both his and Louis' relief, it popped open.

The teenager started to slowly calculate the change. Met with more waiting, Louis stared out at the surroundings, leaning with his elbow on the counter.

A girl with black streaked brown hair quickly caught his attention.

_Naomi?_

He watched in disbelief as she picked a chocolate bar off the shelf, expertly copied and pocketed it without notice of either the busy teen or the cameras.

Growling mentally, Louis stuffed his change away, picked up his bags and left.

Naomi stole a glance through the glass doors at the cheerleaders outside. They wanted a dozen candy bars of various brands. She only had one more to get.

Naomi picked up a random bar of dark chocolate and flipped it around in her hand to see it from all angles before letting it lie flat across the length of his palm. Then she placed it back on the shelf. The second time she picked it up, she left a copy in its place. She had made plenty throughout the aisle. No one was the wiser.

The only current discomfort was the strange man with dark red sunglasses in the next aisle who kept staring in her direction.

Her task finally done, Naomi exited the store and joined the girls on the sidewalk a distance away.

"Well? Did you get all of it?"

Naomi nodded. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out all the candy bars and handed them over.

There were mutters all around as the cheerleaders watched each bar appear. Most were of approval.

"See?" Sandra grinned smugly at her friends. "I told you she was good."

The girls looked at each other briefly before bursting out in laughter. Naomi watched them nervously until the tallest one handed one chocolate bar back to her.

"You're cool to go, kid. Keep this one as the admittance freebie."

Naomi could hardly believe her eyes and ears. "Thanks."

"See you in school tomorrow, kid!"

The cheerleaders walked off with the other eleven bars, still laughing.

Smiling with ecstasy, Naomi turned and headed for home.

"Hi Louis. We're back." Michael, Garrick and Garrett went into the kitchen where their senior was drinking coffee beside two brown grocery bags. He was still decked in his outdoor clothes, with exception to his gloves and cap.

"Where's Naomi?"

"She went with a couple of friends to buy some stuff from the store. Hey look, there she is now." Michael pointed out the window at the small group of girls on the curb.

Louis watched Naomi handing the girls something. There was laughter all around, but Louis did not think it was the nice kind.

"Michael. Boys. I need to talk to Naomi in private."

"Sure. Whatever." Garrick scrutinized his wrist watch. "Jamie's coming over really soon for the group assignment, so don't take too long, okay?"

"Don't worry. I'll keep it short." Louis promised.

Naomi came in just as the door to Boys' Room I clicked shut. "Hi, Louis."

"I saw some girls with you outside. Are they your friends?"

Naomi looked away. "Yeah. They are."

"Exactly how long have your friends been asking you out to the store?"

"Not......very recently.......I just got to know them......." Naomi started to fumble with her words as she took an all new interest in her shoelaces. Then her eyes flicked to the kitchen. When she saw the bags, her face paled.

"I won't say a word to Angus. Yet." Louis put his coffee mug down. "But I want a decent explanation."

"My friends told me to do it, Louis! They said I could be one of them only if I got what they wanted! No one saw me!" Naomi protested.

Louis shook his head. "**I** saw you, Naomi. Friends would never ask you to steal for them. They're just making use of you and your mutation. You know that as well as I do."

"No, you don't know ANYTHING!" Naomi snapped. "You've lived your whole life in this run-down house! Freaks like you don't know how hard it is to find so much as one friend!"

"Naomi, wait!" Louis was ignored as the 14-year-old stormed to her room.

*CRACK* Neil entered the kitchen in a flash of light. As the door slammed, he whistled. "Whoa! Looks like you're gonna fade into ice-cold non-existence for another two days, buddy!"

"Don't rub it in."

Neil shrugged before turning his attention to the cupboards. "Anyway, where did we put the aspirin? Kevin's headaches are getting pretty bad."

"First from the left. Second drawer from the bottom." Louis sighed and picked his mug up again. He hoped Naomi was at least partially right. That no one **else** had seen her.

Part II will be from the X Men's point of view. Features mainly Jamie. Any questions may go either in the review or to my email, which is on my profile page.

Part II will also take me a while to accomplish, so please bear with me.

~ Pelz-Junge


	2. II

**_Hope Haven_**

**Chapter I: Part II**

"Bye Kurt! See you later!"

Kurt waved to Amanda before opening his locker and digging for his Geography text.

"Yo Vogner. All set for our big test?"

Kurt bent a little backward to look past his locker door. Meeting him was the grinning face of Neil Harris.

Kurt grinned back. He and Neil took nearly all of Tuesday's classes together, and they had become good friends. "I stayed up all night! How about you?"

"Nothing's gonna knock this stud down!" Neil announced confidently.

"Really?" Kurt smirked. "You said ze same zing about last veek's Geometry test, Harris. And vhat happened, mein freund?"

"A stinking D-." Neil sighed dramatically. "Alas! The truth is too much to bear! Take me now, my Messiah!"

Kurt promptly fell over laughing. Neil never failed to get a good laugh out of anyone. Maybe except for Rogue and a few other nonchalant ones, but no one could get a laugh out of them, so they didn't count.

"Okay, serious now. We've still got a couple of minutes left. Wanna go do some last-minute touch-ups?"

"Sounds great. Let's go!"

Jamie checked his watch. Lunch hour.

He singled out the Pierce twins, Garrick and Garrett, from the crowd, squeezing past people to get to them. "Hey guys! How's it settled?"

"Andy and Josh say it's alright, so long as we don't mess up the house...." The older Pierce began.

"....plus the bedrooms and basement are off limits." The younger Pierce finished. "Is the kitchen alright with you?"

Jamie nodded. "I'll have to go back to the institute first to get the stuff."

"You know, Jamie, wouldn't it be a lot easier if we worked on the assignment at the Xavier Institute instead of our house?" Garrick asked.

"There's probably a lot more work space at the Xavier Institute." Garrett pointed out.

"Well....." Jamie searched through his mind for the right words to use. "There are certain......inconveniences....."

Garrick shrugged before leaving with his younger brother. "Guess we'll see you later then. We gotta go chow down some cafeteria grub."

"See ya." Jamie left in a different direction, hoping to find some of his seniors. He hadn't found anyone who could give him a lift yet.

Back at the institute, Jamie still had no luck.

"What should I do, Kitty?" He asked. Kitty was working on a book report, her pen scribbling notes furiously.

"Have you, like, asked Jean?"

Jamie nodded. "I have. She said she had an urgent appointment to handle."

"How about Logan?"

Jamie had the mental recollection of Logan in the garage, surrounded by tension so thick you could dice it for Thanksgiving, his eyebrows narrowed dangerously, a toothpick wedged between his gleaming teeth. _"What do you want, **bub**?"_

"Erm...I think he's busy too."

Kitty shrugged and went back to her report. Jamie sighed and plopped down on the couch.

A familiar red car drove by the window upon entry into the institute. Jamie immediately made his choice as he bounced back onto his feet and ran out to the door.

"Thanks, Scott."

"No problem." Scott looked out at the house he just drove Jamie to. "You know, you could have asked me earlier. I came around here to get some groceries just now."

Jamie shrugged and scooped up his pile of books and papers from the boot. "I should take a couple of hours. The guys said they'd cater for my dinner."

"Give me a ring when you're ready to go. I'll pick you up."

Jamie nodded. With a final wave, he walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. An older boy decked in a 'road trip' outfit directed him to the kitchen before retreating to one of the rooms upstairs.

"That guy's awfully brown." Jamie commented casually.

"Louis? Yeah, he's out in the sun a lot." Garrick cleared the kitchen table. "So who's the guy with the snazzy car?"

Jamie placed his stuff in a small heap on one side of the counter. "That's Scott. He's with me in the Institute."

"Man, do all legible guys in this Xavier Institute get cool cars like that?"

Jamie turned to see a gaping teenager a disheveled mop of brown hair. "I don't know. Scott's the only one with a car. But Jean has a SUV, and I think Logan has a Harley."

The teen whistled in awe. "Man, I seriously wanna sign up."

Garrick rolled his eyes skyward. "Whatever, Michael. You don't know peanuts about the Xavier Institute."

"Sure I do!" Michael retorted. Then he thought hard before asking again. "It's some kind of good Samaritan organization, right?"

Garrick and Garrett looked at each other before casting their eyes skyward and slapping their foreheads in complete synchronization.

"Err.....Close enough." Jamie answered quickly.

"See, I knew it!"

"Forget it. Let's get to work." Garrett filed through Jamie's books before lifting up a script book. "Henry V?"

"Scott lent it to me. Thought it'd be useful if we included reviews on Shakespearean plays in our research."

"I see. Might work." Garrett flipped through the pages until he came upon one that was highlighted. "_An angel is like you, Kate. And you are like an angel._ Neil would definitely want to take notes from this."

Jamie pulled up a chair and sat down. Just as he picked up a pen, there was a loud thump, followed by a low grunt and giggles.

Jamie blinked. "Was that from downstairs, or outside?"

"Outside." Garrick and Garrett answered in unison.

Hank removed his horn-rimmed spectacles and polished them methodically. "So tell me again about this girl Cerebro picked up."

"Naomi O'Brien. Age fourteen. Has the gift of virtual duplication."

Hank inspected his glasses in the light. "Care to emphasize on 'virtual duplication'?"

"The creation of a hologram that is the virtual clone of the target." Xavier explained. "Isn't that right, Scott?"

"Yes, Professor. I saw her myself." Scott nodded. "My hand even passed through twelve certain items as proof to theory."

"I see." Returning the glasses to the bridge of his nose, Hank consulted one of the computer monitors in the room. "So now we have a potential recruit to find. Any suggestions on how we shall make our approach?"

"Shouldn't be a problem, Mr. McCoy. Jamie is acquainted to two boys in her family."

Xavier cleared his throat. "It's not exactly as easy as that."

Both Hank and Scott looked in his direction.

"After tracking her for some time, I found out something else." Xavier thoughtfully rubbed his mouth. "She's not standing alone."

"And so...with reference to 'Henry V'...we can conclude..."

There was a distinct click. With the sounds of wood against wood, two men appeared in the kitchen doorway. One was an African, probably of Xhosa heritage. The other was unmistakably American, his head of dark blond hair slicked back neatly with hair gel. Both seemed to be in their forties, and their attire was nearly identical in a certain manner.

Garrick looked up over the book he was dictating to Garrett. "Oh. Hi Andy. Hi Josh."

"Hello, boys." The blond man smiled warmly at them. "I take this is Jamie Madrox?"

"Yes, sir." Garrett twirled his pen.

The man glanced briefly at his watch. "Well, I hate to interrupt you, but I think Jamie should be getting home now."

The boys obediently tidied the kitchen table of books, papers and unwashed dishes.

Garrick tipped cookie crumbs into the waste basket. "Jamie needs to use the phone, Andy."

Garrett took the now empty plate from Garrick and placed it in the sink. "He has to call his friend to pick him up."

The blond man - Andy - gave his permission. "Go right ahead, sonny. It's in the living room, left to the couch."

"Thank you, sir." Jamie placed some of the smaller books in his backpack before exiting to give Scott a ring.


End file.
